Tripping

The Mario on the far right can be seen Prat Falling.

Because dash-dancing is based on the intial dash animation, tripping can occur during dash-dancing.

Tripping (officially called Prat falling; referred to in game files as slipping) is a new gameplay mechanic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Whenever a character begins to dash or turn while running, there is a very small chance that the character will trip, fall over, and sit down in a prone state with a confused expression. While apparently intended to stop excessive dashing and pivoting, characters can also trip when they intend to use a forward smash or side special move with the control stick. A character can also be tripped from getting hit by certain attacks and items. The game keeps track of the total number of Prat Falls each character or name has experienced in Group Brawls.

Interestingly, the sound effect for tripping (when not induced by an opponent or item) changes depending on whether the character tripping is from a cartoon-ish or realistic universe: the realistic characters make unimpressive falling-down noises, while cartoon-ish characters (that is, most of the cast) make a distinctive timpani noise. The 'slip' sound effect for realistic characters (and some cartoon-ish characters) make a light, quick woosh sound, while most of the cartoon-ish characters make a swabbing noise like a sliding mop.

While sitting down, a character has the same options as if they are lying down. However, a tripped character is in a more vulnerable position than a lying down character. Attacks from a siting position are weaker than attacks from a lying down position, and the character is only safe for 8 frames (attacking while lying down usually keeps the character safe until the attack's hitboxes end). The other options are generally subpar as well, having fewer invincibility frames yet comparably long animations. Additionally, sitting opponents can be grabbed unlike lying down opponents.

Causes of tripping

• Smashing the control stick left or right, whether dashing or attacking (very small chance).
  • Surfaces with a lack of traction (such as ice) have a higher likelihood of causing tripping.
• Getting hit with certain attacks (most down tilts and other low attacks are designed to trip opponents).
  • In addition, if an attack hits targets at a low angle (such as the Sakurai angle) and the target does not leave the ground from the knockback, there is an additional chance to trip.
• Being hit with/stepping on a Banana Peel.
• When Tingle rains down banana peels (note these are 2D sprites, not actual Banana Peels), it causes constant Prat Falls to all opponents until he leaves the screen.
• Luigi's Negative Zone can cause incessant tripping.

List of tripping attacks

Note: A trip chance of 100% means a trip is guaranteed as long as the target does not leave the ground from the attack's knockback, and is not already in a tripped state. On the other hand, a trip chance of ∞% means that the attack has the slip effect, and therefore will always result in a trip regardless of knockback.

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	Attack	Trip chance
Mario	Down tilt	40%
	Cape	30%
Luigi	Down tilt	35%
	Dash attack (last hit)	30%
	Negative Zone	?%
Peach	Down tilt	30%
	Down smash	20%
Bowser	Forward tilt (angled down)	40%
	Down tilt	30%
Giga Bowser	Forward tilt (angled side)	50%
	Forward tilt (angled down)	100%
	Up tilt	50%
Yoshi	Down tilt (clean)	30%
	Down tilt (tip)	40%
Wario	Down tilt	40%
	Down smash (before frame 32)	30%
	Wario Waft (uncharged)	∞%
Donkey Kong	Forward tilt (angled down)	15%
	Down tilt	40%
Toon Link	Down tilt	40%
	Dash attack	30%
	Down smash	30%
	Neutral air	30%
Zelda	Down tilt	40%
	Down smash	30%
Sheik	Down tilt	40%
	Down smash	40% hit 1, 30% hits 2-3
Kirby	Down tilt	35%/30%
Meta Knight	Down tilt	30%
Falco	Reflector	40%
Wolf	Forward smash (rear segment)	60%
Pikachu	Neutral attack	10%
Ness	Down tilt	30%
Lucas	Down tilt	40%
Mr. Game & Watch	Judge #2	20%
Diddy Kong	Banana Peel	∞%
Item	Banana Peel	∞%

Controversy

Random tripping is one of, if not, the most controversial additions to Brawl, being a gameplay mechanic that is universally disliked by casual and competitive players alike.

Random tripping is seen as an annoyance in general, as it can suddenly interrupt a player's action whenever they input a dash, to no fault of their own, while leaving them in a vulnerable position. This has a large potential to impact a match however beyond simply annoyance. As tripping leaves the player in a significant state of vulnerability while moving them a small distance forward, it is a common occurrence for players to trip into an opponent's attack they would have otherwise not get hit by, which can be as minor as a one hit inconsequential punish, or the tripping player losing their stock prematurely and even losing the match to an event that was not in their control. It works in the reverse too, where a player going to punish an opponent's vulnerability trips, preventing them from hitting the opponent with their attack that would otherwise land. This can merely save the opponent from a one hit inconsequential punish, or save their stock and delay victory, or even give the opponent a chance to come back and win a match they should have otherwise lost. There's also the rarer occurrence of a player reading the opponent's movement/action and inputting an attack that will punish them, but then the opponent trips, halting their action while keeping them out of the reach of the player's attack, saving them from the player's punish that should have hit them.

Random tripping has been cited by many players as an unnecessary and detrimental addition to the game, as it not only adds nothing worthwhile to the game in their view, but introduces a constant element of chance that not only disrupts gameplay and annoy players, but has the capability to give a player the chance to win by being luckier than their opponent despite being the worse player. Random tripping is also said to harm the metagame of Brawl, as it cannot be used as part of any strategy, since it is impossible to predict consistently enough.

While random tripping is generally considered a detriment to tournament play, forced tripping is generally seen as acceptable and is looked upon much more favorably. Unlike random tripping, it does not interrupt a player's input, while giving players the ability to control inflicting it on the opponent. And since the players are in control of inducing it, strategies can be built around it. Forced tripping is an integral part of some characters' metagames; this is especially true for Diddy Kong and his Banana Peels, which is among the strongest reasons for his top tier placement.

Being universally disliked, random tripping is always removed in fan made edits of Brawl, with the four major Brawl mods, Brawl+, Brawl Minus, Balanced Brawl, and Project M, each removing it. Forced tripping from items and attacks however, are retained in each.

Trivia

• The Super Smash Bros. Melee bonus, Pratfaller, does not have anything to do with Brawl's prat falling. Instead, it is awarded if a character always lands face up after tumbling.
• If a Fighting Alloy is hacked into a normal match and loses, their losing animation is their sitting pose.
• Tripping was first discovered during the Brawl demo at E for All. It was not recognized as being random at the time, leading to some players trying to learn how to trigger it at will for use as a technique. For a time it was known as Ink Dropping, as noted in Gimpyfish's famous thread.